im trying to diagnose a problem that occurs while starting up the engine. It makes a hell of alot of noise while i try to start the engine. It sounds like the starter is grinding hard on the flywheel. In the past 5 months i have replaced the starter about 5 times. 3 times, the entire housing of the started just cracked, and the two other times the stater just died up. it would only spin but not crank. I have checked the flywheel and it seems to be in the okay range for the truck to be doing this. while i was at autozone one day, a guy told me to check the pulleys to see if they are getting stuck, i checked that and they seem okay. they spin easily except the big one (attached to engine). but im guessing its because of the compression that builds up inside). another thing i have noticed is that at times when i try to start the car, the engine would feel like if gets stuck and jumps (makes the whole engine move (for 1 second)) i have removed the tranny (well, i just separated it from the engine block). to completely check the flywheel and see if its cracked or check better the teeth on it.

but back to my main question, id like to see (with the tranny removed ) how the starter and flywheel are working together and see why is all that grinding noise happening and why sometimes when cracking the whole engine stalls and jumps, so is it okay to start the engine without a transmission attached to the engine block?

i have a blazer 2000 4.3L 6 cyl 2wd (two door).

oh btw, any tips on how to unbolt a super rusted exhaust pipe, one time i tried removing one but the bolts just snapped. i have put WD20 or 40 (cant remember hwat its called) to see if it would help but they just seem way to tight and hard to remove, im scared to break all bolts. (i need to do this in order to pull the transmission down). remember that i just separated it from the engine block.

 

if you have the transmission removed from the engine, the eng is likely going to tip forward or backwards.....either of which is not good. if you replaced your starter 5 times in one year, you must be getting the wrong one.....I would take it to a trusted shop and at least let them listen to it for you.....your spending allot of time and money on it and not really getting anywhere.....it will be cheaper in the long run. !

 

You can,just make sure nothing is touching the flywheel,and im pretty sure the engines gonna be leaning back,so watch out the fans gonna hit the shroud. Put a wide piece of wood on a jack and carefully jack the engine up till its level. there ya go!

 

I would remove the fuel pump relay so that it wont actually start. It will still turn over. To me it seems that if the trans isnt connected the engine would idle at a higher rpm. Not positive on that though maybe someone else will know for sure. As for the rusted bolts try some PB blaster. It works very good on rusted bolts. Spray it on and let it sit for a bit then try it. If not try heating it up if you can be careful not to melt any wires or anything. As pb blaster is somewhat flammable but nothing a little bit of water can take care of. If you still can get them just keep trying. if they break just pound out the studs and use normal bolts to put it back together.

 

With the back of the engine supported on a jack stand or jack, you should be fine to start the engine without the transmission installed. You just have to make sure that it doesn't fall off.

 

thx, ill add support to the back of the engine.

i might also consider the idea of removing the fuel so it wont start just move the flywheel.

thanks again, ill keep you guys updated, or come back if i have any more questions.

 

okay, so i have removed the tranny completely, i removed all the wires, exhaust (had to cut the pipe because of one nut that stripped), the tranny water lines and fuel harness that were in the way. so tranny is removed, i installed the starter in place, and i manually moved the starter so it will engage, and it seems to be going in fine, its not too tight or too loose on the flywheel. But i have encountered a small issue, after putting the starter in place, i tried to start the engine, but will get no crank, the starter will not work at all, like if it was not plugged in, i checked the cables with a multimeter and im not getting any voltage at the ends of the starter cables.

has anyone started an engine with the tranny removed before? any tips on what to look for or perhaps know a fix so i can start the engine with the tranny removed?

thanks

 

battery connected? do you get power to the larger wire? other then that, neutral safety switch would be my guess .doesn't know what gear you have selected....because it's not there!

 

yup, battery is connected, the dashboard turns on. so how do i fix the gear safety switch. do i plug it back in?

 

okay so i got it to start up, it starts pretty nasty.. dont like how starter grinds on the flywheel like that. i took a look while starting the engine and the starter slips off the flywheel at times, as if the flywheel is getting stuck (making it hard to spin).

one thing i forgot to mention is that the outer bolt hole is cracked and is opened a little bit from the bottom, my mechanic soldered it back together but still left a small gap on the bottom of the whole (at the entrance of the bolt). He said i would have to replace the whole engine to fix the prpblem because the starter is not sitting right. the starter bolt still screws in fine but i guess when it gets tightened it slants the starter (my guess, not sure if this happens), he said another option was to replace the engine block, but he is not sure if something else inside the engine might be contributing to the problem.... i can replace the engine and save myself the labor costs, i wanted to save the costs of the entire engine.. but i dont know if that would be possible now. Im not an experienced mechanic at all, but im capable of taking apart something and putting it back together.

Im out of ideas on what to check or do to see if the problem can be fixed. I guess im start looking for a used engine and sell the truck after it gets fixed.

if u guys have any tips or can shine some light into this issue, id appreciate it.